Anti-Abortion Crusader On Trump Team

Katy Talento is now working on administration's "pro-life" abortion policy

During the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, Katy Talento confirmed in an interview that she is now working on anti-choice policies for the new administration, reports Abby Boguhn in Rewire.

Despite her background in public health, Talento has repeatedly promoted known myths about contraception, including lies that hormonal contraceptives cause abortions and miscarriages and reduce fertility — a prominent belief among anti-abortion groups.

Talento told Rewire she “handle[s] the pro-life issues” on the policy team. Talento didn’t specify which policies she focused on, but noted the council was “always looking to protect life.”

According to her LinkedIn page, Talento studied epidemiology at Harvard University and worked at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Whitman-Walker Clinic before moving on to politics. She has also held positions in several congressional offices, including the Senate health committee, reports STAT.

Yet, despite her 20-plus years of experience, Talento appears to not understand exactly how birth control works.

In an article published at The Federalist while she still working as a legislative director for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-SC), Talento warned about the risks of birth control, some founded, like the risk of cardiovascular problems. But Talento entirely fabricated other so-called risks, including that birth control pills may cause miscarriages and that birth control might limit a woman’s ability to have children in the future. Her “scientific” explanation is as follows:

Progestin in birth control thins the endometrial lining (uterine wall), but a fertilized egg needs a thick, fluffy, blood-rich uterine wall to attach to and begin growth. Without it, the embryo can’t survive, and a miscarriage occurs.

Talento also led the article asserting that “chemical birth control causes abortions” but she never quite got around to explaining how. Even vehement opponents of abortion know when to quit.

Meanwhile, her boss, President Trump, was still claiming to be “very pro-choice” in 1999 but by 2011 had somehow converted to being very “anti-choice.” While his views on abortion rights ignited come controversy during the 2016 campaign trail — particularly when he claimed Planned Parenthood did “very good work,” says Boguhn, or discussed altering the GOP’s anti-choice platform to include some exceptions—Trump never actually followed through.

Now, it looks as though Trump has chosen to outsource yet another area of federal policy to yet another special interest group that has fervently supported the Republican Party in return for getting its very particular policy proposals passed by the current GOP majority in Congress—regardless of how wildly unpopular or unfair these policies are to the majority of Americans, in this case, women and low-income families.